After decades of residents requesting historic status, San Jose is starting the process to create a new city landmark district — the first since 2007.
The San Jose City Council earlier this month voted unanimously to nominate Alameda Park/Schiele Avenue as a historic district, with Councilmember Omar Torres absent. The designation would protect homes in the tree-lined neighborhood west of downtown along Schiele, Harding and Pershing avenues between Stockton and Hoover avenues. The area includes Queen Anne, Tudor and Spanish Revival style houses built in the 1800s and bungalows built in the 1920s.
Ben Leech, executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose, said a city landmark designation protects buildings from extensive exterior changes or being torn down. According to the city, exterior alterations to a property within a designated city landmark district require a historic preservation permit and the project must conform with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Regular maintenance repairs or painting don’t require a permit.